Emelia Richards has always had a passion for baking, and her talent has recently been recognised with a nomination for the prestigious Renshaw Cup 2025.
Emelia began her bakery journey at Reaseheath in 2023 and having successfully completed Levels 2 and 3 Diplomas in Professional Bakery she has now enrolled on the Foundation Bakery and Patisserie at University Centre Reaseheath.
“I chose Reaseheath for its beautiful campus and exceptional bakery facilities. I was immediately inspired by the warm welcome I received during the information day, which confirmed my decision to study here,” says Emelia.
Her tutor, Sam Copeland, has watched Emelia’s skills flourish. “Emelia’s growth, creativity, and determination have been truly outstanding. She has a passion for baking and particularly enjoys experimenting with new recipes. From the outset of Level 2, sugarcraft became a firm favourite of hers, although she nearly gave up when faced with the challenge of creating carnations. Through frustration and perseverance, she pushed through the tears and sometimes tantrums until she mastered the skill.”
Emelia’s Renshaw Cup experience gave her a once-in-a-lifetime insight into professional baking. “On the first day of the Renshaw Cup, we had the opportunity to have a tour around the British Bakels/Renshaw factory and had the chance to look at how different sugar pastes and their famous marzipan is made, as well as all the different processes it had to go through.
“Later that day, we had a talk by some of the workers at a well-known bakery in Liverpool about what they had to do and sacrifice to keep their business running through tough times, to which I learnt that it is just as important to look at the negatives as well as the positives.”
She enjoyed hands-on workshops with baking specialists. “It started off with a demonstration from Francezka Bell, who taught us how to create a marbled design on fondant/sugar paste and how to apply it evenly around a cake. Personally, I really enjoyed this demonstration, and it helped me to understand how to cover a cake, since it isn’t my strongest field, but this has helped me to become more confident at covering a cake in fondant/sugar paste correctly.
“We then had an immersive experience with Sandro Farmhouse, who talked about how if you want to shine online and show off your cakes, bakes or decorations, be yourself because at the end of the day, the audience is watching you and never change being you for someone you don’t know. We then had to, one at a time, stand in front of everyone including cameras, the professionals and all the Renshaw Cup winners of 2025, to try and sell a 5-tier plain, white cake as if we were trying to grasp the attention of someone on TikTok or Instagram in three seconds.
“At the time, I was terrified because I have a massive fear of having to speak alone in front of a load of people I do not know, but I did it, and I am very proud of myself for achieving this.”
Emelia also enjoyed the creative teamwork challenge. “We were then split up into two groups to plan and decorate this five-tier cake in 30 minutes. My team decided to go with a starry night themed cake, which we decorated with all the planets, the sun, lots of colours to make the galaxy and a hell of a lot of glitter. To which later on we then had to get back up again in front of everyone and try to again sell the cake in 3 seconds.”
She learned a lot from tasting and technical sessions too. “We next had a tasting session with Simon Ratcliffe, who taught us about different types and flavours of marzipan, for example, clementine flavoured marzipan, morello cherry marzipan and even a marzipan but replaced the almonds with hazelnuts. My favourite flavour was the morello cherry one since it tasted just like a Bakewell tart. We were also told that they want to stop people from thinking that marzipan is ‘just for Christmas’.”
Her Renshaw Cup journey ended with a high-pressure competition.
Emilia said: “Finally, we arrived at Liverpool City College for the Champion of Champions Challenge, and the clock of four hours had started. I had various interviews from different people while I was baking. I was nervous and stressed, but I saw it to the finish and managed to get six finished desserts on my slate plate to which later on would be judged by John Renshaw and a few more judges.
“It was a fun challenge and at the end of the day I am a Renshaw Cup winner of 2025, regardless of what anyone says. I am so incredibly proud of what I have done and achieved to be nominated by my college to represent Reaseheath, and I couldn’t have got to where I am now if it weren’t for my friends that I have made and my amazing tutors.”
